Daily Archives: March 11, 2024
‘Simply catastrophic’: California salmon season to be restricted or shut down — again
California’s fishing industry is bracing for another bad year as federal managers Monday announced plans to heavily restrict or prohibit salmon fishing again, after cancelling the entire season last year. The Pacific Fishery Management Council today released a series of options that are under consideration, all of which either ban commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the ocean off California or shorten the season and set strict catch limits. California’s commercial fleet and recreational anglers still await federal disaster aid for last year’s losses. Tommy “TF” Graham also will keep working on land. A commercial fisherman based in Bodega Bay, he got a Class A driver’s license so he could drive a truck and stay afloat through the closures. Now, when he’s not crab fishing, Graham wakes up at 3 a.m. to drive frozen and farmed salmon and other fish from around the world into San Francisco. “A guy has got to get up and put his boots on and go to work every day,” Graham said. Still, he said, “I used to be a provider, now I’m a consumer. It feels like shit, to tell you the truth.” more, >>click to read<< 21:24
Minister Lebouthillier’s decision regarding the elver fishery in 2024
First and foremost, I would like to thank elver license holders, Indigenous communities and the public for the input that was shared with me on this year’s elver fishery. Our government is committed to the conservation of American eel, with sustainability and orderly management as the top priorities for the elver fishery. As you know, over the last few years we have unfortunately seen a pattern of increasing and very serious challenges in the elver fishery, including significant quantities of elvers being fished illegally, jeopardizing the conservation of the species. The fishery has also become the focus of harassment, threats and violence between harvesters and toward fishery officers, with a number of confrontations and incidents of violence creating an immediate threat to the management of the fishery and public safety. This undermines international and domestic efforts to sustainably manage elver fisheries. more, >>click to read<< 18:38
NCFA Weekly Update for March 11, 2024
I was recently forwarded a copy of the CCA NC’s newsletter Tidelines which included a recap of the February 2024 meeting of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC). There was one item from their recap which I found particularly interesting titled “Issues from Commissioners.” During the Issues from Commissioners portion of the MFC agenda, Commissioners are allowed to put forward issues they’d like to discuss at future meetings or request clarification or information, from Division staff, on issues of personal concern to them. During this portion of the February 2024 meeting, three commissioners, Robert McNeil, Mike Blanton, and Tom Roller, chose to bring forward personal issues to the Commission. –>>click to read<< Weekly Update for March 11, 2024 15:50
Island Fishermen Unlikely to Benefit from Vineyard Wind Fund
A program aimed at compensating fishermen for lost revenues during the construction and operation of the first offshore wind farm south of the Vineyard will not benefit Island-based fishermen, according to a representative from the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust. But according to Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust president John Keene, the restrictive requirements to qualify for the fund will leave local fishermen in the lurch. Mr. Keene also noted that money from the fund will go to vessel owner/operators, who are not obligated to distribute funds to their crew. Island fishermen who crew for New Bedford-based vessels as part of the season, therefore, might also be left out of the compensation, even if they work on ships in the lease area. more, >>click to read<< 12:07
‘Deadliest Catch’ Reality TV Star Arrested For Alleged Probation Violation
Police arrested a cast member from Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” in the Florida Keys on Saturday over alleged probation violations. Forty-year-old Erik James Brown, also known as Erik James, was cuffed in the Stock Island section of the Keys over alleged probation violations, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department arrest log. The exact details surrounding the nature of the arrest remain unclear. Brown was previously arrested for allegedly running an illegal marijuana growing operation out of his nearly $2 million Florida home in 2018. links, more, >>click to read<< 10:54
Location of Offshore Wind Zone Doesn’t ‘Pass the Pub Test’
While industry is moving full steam ahead with plans for offshore wind development off Port Stephens, the local fishing community still hold grave concerns over the suitability of the location. The recent Newcastle and Port Stephens Game Fish Club (NPSGFC) Garmin Billfish Shootout, an annual fishing contest held off the coast in areas potentially impacted by future offshore wind development, brought the issue into focus once more. The Game Fish Club’s President, Troy Radford, said the location of the Hunter offshore wind zone, which starts about 20 kilometres out to sea from the Port Stephens coast, does not “pass the pub test”. “If this was going on in the Great Barrier Reef would this be going on? more, >>click to read<< 09:39
New Crabber for Bridlington Family
Genesis has been built by Parkol Marine Engineering to an Ian Paton design for Neil Robson and his sons, who between them run Genesis Fishing. The new boat will work from Bridlington, skippered by elder son George, while younger son John skippers the company’s other crabber, Genesis Enigma. An older crabber, Genesis Rose, is about to be sold now that the new boat is fishing. ‘We’ve been fishing all January, and obviously we are made up with her, few bits of teething troubles but nothing major, the new deck layout works great, we have had a mixed bag of weather 45/50 knot winds on one trip, which was good to see and get a good feel of how she performs,’ George Robson said. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 08:18
The Grandys of Garnish: A history of shipbuilding and lobster fishing in a tiny N.L. town
During the heyday of the schooner bank fishery, from the late 1800s up to the 1940s, shipbuilding was the major employer in Garnish. Dozens of carpenters and labourers were involved, from cutting the timbers up around the headwaters of the Garnish and Black rivers to operating sawmills downstream and then the actual building of the vessels. The industry reached its peak in the mid 1930s, when in one year, according to 97-year-old Melvin Grandy, five boats were being built at the same time. The five vessels were different size banking schooners, capable of carrying anywhere from four dories up to 12 dories each. Without a doubt the master boat builder in the Garnish of the 1930s and ’40s was Cephas Grandy. His reputation as a craftsman spread not only all around Newfoundland but also on the Canadian mainland. photos, >>click to read<< 07:04
